Raise a glass: 80 years ago today, Michigan was first state to vote down Prohibition

6:18 PM,
Apr. 10, 2013

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Written by

Troy Reimink
Detroit Free Press Web Editor

It's a good day for Michigan residents to raise a glass of their favorite microbrew - 80 years ago today, we became the first state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which eventually ended America's 13-year prohibition of alcohol by repealing the 18th Amendment.

Michigan, and Detroit particularly, played a major role in the country's experiment with banning alcohol. Prohibition went into effect across the U.S. in 1920, but Michigan had outlawed booze a few years earlier than that, and in 1918, Detroit was the first major city where alcohol was prohibited.